It was only a game
by bumblebee84
Summary: Turbo's code is still lingering within the confines of the game Sugar Rush. What will happen when he reconfigures? Will he be the same? (Turbo Family Fluff. WARNING: Beyond this point are rabid plot bunnies. May encounter major cuteness upon entry. Read at your own risk.)
1. Prologue

Candy Rush hadn't changed one bit since he'd last seen it. The skies were bright and the air had a sweet minty scent to it that cleared your lungs and left you with a wide smile spread across your face. Everything had a sort of lifting feel to it; happy and carefree.

Warmth spread through him at the sight of it. He wandered down the multicolored path, leading away from the entrance, to the surface of the sugar-coated world. He glanced around at the tall cotton-candy trees and the peppermint forest beyond that. Then he spotted the crowds of candy people and the starting line- The Races. It was all too familiar. He wished he'd returned sooner.

"Ralph!"

The bad guy raised a brow and turned just in time to catch the girl springing into his arms.

"Ralph, you're finally back! What took you so long!?" the girl laughed brightly, nuzzling her head against his, a mischievous grin playing along her features.

"Hey kid," he smiled, returning the affection.

He set her down and she immediately clasped her hands around one of his large ones and proceeded to drag him away towards the races. Her hands were so very tiny in comparison to his. Her palm was smaller than one of his finger digits. She was small in general, so when she held his hand he had to haunch over just to keep at level with her.

Vanellope finally let him go and bounced over to her cart. She began to rant to him about the time he had missed: the races she'd won and lost, the friends she had made, the presidential decree's she'd passed, and so on. He smiled to himself as he watched her mess around with the steering wheel while still managing to keep the never ending sentence going.

When she was finished she glanced towards him with those large caramel apple eyes. He gave her a look witch she replyed to with a smirk.

"Come on Ralphy, let's go for a ride! I wanna show you what I can do," she padded the back of her cart.

As soon as he set foot on the little vehicle, they were off. He gripped the back of the bumper and quickly caught himself before tipping off. Once he got his bearings back he sat up strait and gazed out ahead of the track, smiling inwardly. She revved it and he cheered her on, raising a fist in the air. The little racer had improved a lot, he had to admit. He hadn't fallen off yet-

Then without warning, the car swerved and he went tumbling off the side into a pit of chocolate milk. He emerged from the surface and gasped. Vanellope stond above him, leaning against her cart grinning.

"Bad move Squirt," Ralph called up to her as he whipped his face.

Vanellope squealed as he reached up and grabbed her ankle, pulling her towards him.

"If I'm going down, you're going down with me!"

She squirmed and wriggled in his grip till she found herself at eye level with him. She laughed and bounced at his face, taking him off guard. They both went down, landing backwards into the pool of milk. The two laughed and played, splashing at each other.

It was like old times. But this time they were safe, and nothing would ever hurt them again.

Vanellope climbed back out of the pit and rang out her pony-tail. Ralph smiled up at her from down below and began to climb out himself. She giggled, seeing him slip and fall back in.

Then there was the sound of pattering footsteps nearby. She glanced around to see who it was, but no one was there. She turned, expecting to find one of her friends playing tricks on her, or one of the candy guards, but again nothing. Confusion clouded her vision. Then there, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red and white, like the stripes of a candy cane. She whipped around, but it was gone- simply vanished.

"Hey kid, you alright?"

Ralph had finally made it out and was now by her side, brushing off his cloths.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassured him, flashing him a grin.

He nodded, pleased with her response.

Something still tugged at her thoughts though- a weird feeling that something wasn't quite right.


	2. A Second Chance

GAME OVER

It flashed above him in bright red lights, illuminating his features.

All around him was darkness. Short bursts of electrical surges would dance around him like crackling thunder as the world shuddered and jolted around him. The words over head began to flicker out and fade. His world was malfunctioning, for whatever reason, and it didn't look good.

There was another sharp spurt of energy, one which he felt this time, but instead of feeling pain there was a billow of electricity and static. His entire body began to jerk and shiver, every little piece of coding within him rearranging as told- But the process was corrupted and instead of dissolving into simple matter, he stayed a solid form, one which began to tremor and glitch uncontrollably.

The small virus wobbled and fell. He curled up into a ball on the nonexistent ground, his frame quivering, sparks of electricity pulsating around him, causing him to convulse. He gritted his teeth, tightly shutting his eyes. He could feel his code separating, pulling away from his center, but somehow never going away completely.

The system was beginning to break down. His coding flashed from red to blue and back again as the computer tried to fix itself, tried to take back control. It was fritzing now, hardly able to stay intact. It still recognized the organism, the 'parasite' held within it. But the virus's coding said differently.

It wasn't sure what to do. It tried over and over again to delete this nuisance, but it just wouldn't go away. Its programming wouldn't allow it.

Without a way to dispose of the virus, there was nothing else it could do but release it. It was still known as part of the game, which wouldn't allow it to die, but instead regenerate. Though its coding said it was something else. So it would not be deleted, but instead spit back out of the system as it was before. It would not keep the skin it had created, none of the information it had collected while being here. It would return the same way it had entered.

And all at once it was over. The shaking stopped, the static was gone, and the world around him was solid and flooded with light. He blinked, his eyes beginning to focus again. They were dull and had lost most of their color. His coding was still a little jarred, for his body hadn't completely reset. He looked up at the world simulated around him. He was back in Sugar Rush. Everything was unhindered, unchanged- back to the way it was before. All of his work was undone.

A growl began to rise in his throat before his frame released an awful tremor that caused him to gag and hiss. He glanced back up, one eye closed tight from the pain. He reached out an arm and winced before dragging himself to his feet. His legs shook with the strain, but he managed to stay up-right. He wrapped his arms around his chest, tucking his head down, making himself looked impact and small, then quickly headed off for cover. If anyone saw him like this, he'd be done for. No second chances this time. He was vulnerable now.

He could feel his frame grow weaker as he went. He was getting colder. His body had taken too much damage, too many manipulations. The change of skins, the cybug mutation, the shock of sudden and unedifying death, the coding being ripped from his being… He'd never died before. Not in his old game- not in this one. He didn't like the feeling of death. He didn't understand how others could endure it every day of their lives. The thought of it made him shiver in disgust.

Death. He couldn't let that happen again- Because if he were ever to die again, there was no chance of him coming back.

He had to be careful.

Then he felt that ever so familiar gaze fall upon him. He turned his head slowly, his eyes flashing a vibrant yellow, his face contorted into one of hatred and horror. He paused, and in that very moment in time their eyes locked. But the other hadn't had time to register as his body took full on defense and he dashed away, disappearing behind cover. He watched as the girl shook her head and glanced around, but was surprised to find nothing.

A large familiar figure joined at her side. It left a bitter taste on his tongue as he watched them. Those two. They ruined it all. And that man, Wreck-It Ralph. HE was the one who killed him, ultimately. He wouldn't allow that to happen again.

Then another surge, and his vision went foggy.

Maybe not now.

And he fainted.


End file.
